Ring is raising the cost of its cheapest subscription by 99 cents a month
The price of Ring's cheapest security camera subscription plan has stayed flat at $3 a month since it was introduced in 2017. But soon, alongside increased video storage and some expanded features, the price of a Protect Basic subscription is going up by 99 cents.
Ring says the rate hike will go into effect starting with your first bill on or after July 1st, 2022, bumping the price of a Protect Basic plan up to $3.99 a month or $39.99 per year. Other Ring subscription plans are staying the same, with the Protect Plus plan remaining at $10 or month, or $20 a month for Protect Pro. In its press release, Ring justified the increase by adding support for more video storage (up to 180 days, up from 60 days), larger bulk videos downloads (up to 50 videos at a time, up from 20) and the ability to receive exclusive discounts on future Ring products (which was previously only available with Protect Plus and Protect Pro plans).
While a 99-cent bump might not sound like much, because each Protect Basic plan only covers a single camera per sub and Ring cameras require a subscription to save and record videos, owners with two or three cameras could be looking at a more significant yearly cost. This may push some customers towards upgrading to Ring's mid-range Protect Plus plan, which covers all the cameras in your home for $10 a month.
In the future, Ring also says package alert functionality will soon be available on a wider range of doorbells, along with upcoming support for smart alerts, sound detection, and custom event alerts — all of which are currently not available with a Protect Basic plan. Thankfully, it appears standard functions such as two-way communication and the live camera view will continue to work without a subscription. So if you don't want to fork over an extra dollar a month, you'll still have access to a limited set of default features.
[original story: Engadget]